


Only You

by thewolfsdoctor



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Angst, Canon Divergence, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Multi, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-31
Updated: 2017-08-31
Packaged: 2018-12-22 06:05:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11961273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewolfsdoctor/pseuds/thewolfsdoctor
Summary: She thinks she’s fallen in love more than once.





	Only You

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by a headcanon from @badwolfxoncomingstorm on tumblr (in which the doctor visits rose in her past, before she began traveling with him)  
> link to original post:  
> http://badwolfxoncomingstorm.tumblr.com/post/163351158428/headcanon-all-future-doctors-crop-up-in-roses

She’s walking to her Mum’s after she comes back from work to an empty flat. It’s completely bare, save her things piled in the closet and the sofa Jimmy probably couldn’t fit in his run-down van. Bed frame was gone, dirty mattress left on the floor. Bills are piled on the counter, all have her name on it. Slimy bastard.

Rose doesn’t let tears fall, not for him. This isn’t love, it doesn’t end like this. She doesn’t want to stay here either, where she is alone.

But now that she’s walking in the dark, she immediately regrets that decision. She hears heavy footsteps behind her and she quickens her pace to try and lose them.

It’s no use, but there’s no harm in trying.

“Hey, Rose!”, a woman calls, and then she feels an arm loop around hers. It’s soft and warm and secure and makes her feel safe. She hangs onto the blonde woman in a dark coat, squeezing her arm in thanks. “Keep walking, act like we know each other.”

Rose plays into the act, leaning into the woman and smiling lightly. The footsteps slow down and she’s too afraid to look behind her. She notices the woman turn her head, staring directly at whoever was following them. When she’s satisfied with what she sees, the woman turns her attention back to her with a stern look. 

“Don’t you know it’s dangerous to be walking around in the dark on your own?”

“I was lucky you came by, then,” Rose says, relief making her way into her voice. They walk in silence, adrenaline and fear subsiding. She holds onto the woman’s arm like a a lifeline, and Rose is grateful that she doesn’t seem to mind. Before she knows it, Rose was in front of her flat building. The woman loosens her grip and her face falls.

“Be careful, alright?”

“Thank you.” The woman starts to step away, but Rose panics. “How’d you know my name?”

Her smile is soft, gently grazing her lips. “Lucky guess. The name suits you.”

She smiles back in thanks. The woman walks away, occasionally glancing back to see if she’s still standing there. Rose watches her curiously, the warm feeling in her heart leaving with the woman.  
\---

She’s walking through the park on her lunch break when a couple of boys run past her, nearly pushing her over. She sees them hide behind a tree in the distance, and she searches the park to find who they were running from.

A man marches closer to her, and angry scowl written on his face, and she puts two and two together.

She gets right in the man’s path and he stops in his tracks. When he looks at her the lines in his face soften. He’s grey, and bit bony. Has he got velvet lining in his coat?

“What d’ya think your doin’, chasing kids around like that?” her arms are crossed and she’s got a scowl of her own.

She’s thrown off guard by his manic smile. “How do you know they’re not the guilty party?” he asks her. Ah, he’s Scottish. “They’ve stolen something from me.”

Rose lets her arms fall to her sides and mumbles, “Doesn’t mean you have to chase them like the Grim Reaper, or whatever.”

She walks towards the boys at the tree and they come out of their hiding place, looking only slightly guilty at getting caught. She recognizes them once she sees their faces. A couple of Bev’s great nephews or something.

“What’re you two doin’, hm? Taking things from this older gentleman like that?” she says accusingly as she gets closer. A voice behind her questions ,’old?’ but she ignores him.

“It was only a bit of fun.”

“Yeah, well, I’m sure it wasn’t fun to this man and now I’m late for work, so imagine how fun it’ll be when your aunt finds out I lost my job because of you.” Yeah, they probably wouldn’t care if she was two minutes late, but kids don’t know that yet. “Hand him his things and you won’t get in any trouble.”

They handed him a photograph, a pair of sunglasses, and some sort of torch, mumbling apologies and running away.

“That’s settled, then. Sorry ‘bout that,” she says with a smile.

The man grabs her hand with both of his and presses a light kiss to it, and she flushes. “Thank you very much, sorry for the inconvenience.”

“S’alright,” she dismisses. She really had to hurry, now. She excuses herself quickly and politely and begins to walk back to where she came from.

“Keep track of your things, alright?” she calls over her shoulder, and his deep laughter follows her all the way to work.  
\---

As the cashier waits for her to give the proper payment, she digs through her pockets only to find a couple of crumpled bills. And just her luck, her wallet is at home. Hell, even if she had her wallet she still might have been short. 

How pathetic is she, that she doesn’t even have enough money for chips?

The cashier clears his throat and she glares at him, moving to get out of line with a “sorry to waste your time”.

“I can pay for her,” the bloke in line behind her says.

“Oh, you really don’t have to,” she protests, trying to keep her dignity intact, but the cashier is already accepting the money and handing him the receipt.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Rose insists, “it’s just chips.”

He waves off the excuse. “Happens to me all the time. Never have my wallet. I don’t think I have a wallet, actually.”

He’s a bit mad, she thinks. She takes in his appearance. He’s tall and sinewy, sort of a professor type, if professors could be that young. His trousers are a bit short, boots scuffed, he’s wearing a bow tie. Yep, a bit mad.

“How am I supposed to pay you back?”

“I’m sure you’ll do eventually.” He looks sad, his smile familiar. Odd, because she’s never seen a man like him in her life. He picks up two orders of chips from the counter and hands one to her. She doesn’t know why, but his kindness makes her heart stutter.

He’s reluctant to accept her means of paying him back, but it doesn’t mean she won’t try. “You can sit with me, maybe? Don’t really want to go back home.”

“I don’t think…”

“It’s a bit lonely, sitting here on my own.”

He looks at her like he knows what loneliness feels like.

“I’m on a bit of a time crunch, but I’ll take a rain check,” he tells her. He’s already moving out the door.

“How’re you gonna find me? I don’t even know your name!” she laughs.

“The day I find you again will be the luckiest day of my life!”

She figures that’s his way of saying she can’t pay him back. The thought of never finding him, though, is completely bonkers. But hope is always good.  
\---

“Don’t stay out all night!”

“Try and stop me.”

Rose makes her way to her building when she hears a choked cough behind her. She whips her head around and sees a man, tall and lean, slouched like he’s about to be sick in the snow.

“You alright, mate?” she asks kindly. He grumbles a response, like he doesn’t want to be heard. He tilts his head to gaze at her from under his brow. She can’t see his face but she can tell he’s not leering at her. She can tell he’s not that kind of man.

She asks if he’s had too much to drink and he gives some vague response, and he must be really pissed if he can’t even string together a proper sentence.

Rose steps away from him but it doesn’t feel right. He might get hurt out here all on his own.

“Maybe it’s time you went home.”

He straightens up at her suggestion. The shadows play across his across his face as he shifts and he’s staring at her with the saddest eyes. “Yeah.”

Oh, God, it sounds like he’s about to cry and her eyes are stinging in sympathy. A depressing drunk, she thinks he is. Maybe he lost someone. Maybe he’s starting over, leaving the things of his past behind. It is a new year, after all.

And now she’s making him sound all poetic, like he’s a man from a fantasy.

Of course, that fantasy is forgotten when he suddenly asks her for the year.

A depressed, clueless drunk, she amends her earlier statement.

“January the first, 2005.”

“2005. Tell you what,” and his smile brightens but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes, “I bet you’re going to have a really great year.”

He’s telling her like he knows, and for a moment she believes him, and they’re smiling at each other like a couple of loons in the snow. If her year is as interesting as this conversation it’d definitely be a hell of a ride.

“See ya,” she says, and it’s a promise that she never thought she’d keep.  
\---

“I’m sorry.”

Rose hums, accepting his repeated apology but not willing to move her eyes away from the arching, frozen waves in front of her. She takes his hand.

The lines of his face deepen. “I shouldn’t have even considered taking you into your own past. It’s dangerous.”

“I know. You did it, though, and it can’t be undone,” she says. She’s learned a lot in the past few days, one of them being that time travel comes with a set of rules. “’S sort of nice to know you’d do that for me.”

The Doctor scoffs. “And risk your life like that? I don’t think so.”

“You’d want another chance, wouldn’t you? Some stolen time with people you love.”

He pauses. Rose thinks he’s already had enough experience with losing people before their time. Some of them at his own hands, even.

“And you gave that to me, even if it hurt in the end. At least he didn’t die alone like before, y’know? At least he had someone.”

She finally looks at him, and he’s already staring down at her. His ears are turning pink from the cold and her cheeks feel like their frozen solid. He’s shifting out of his leather jacket before she can protest and she is suddenly surrounded by his warmth. He wraps his arms around her, protecting her against the breeze, and she leans her head forward onto his chest.

“Thank you, Doctor.” Rose isn’t really sure what she’s thanking him for, really. He’s done so much for her, and she couldn’t possibly show enough gratitude and love in a few words. 

His arms tighten around her and she feels grounded, safe, protected, appreciated. She feels everything.

“Anything for you, Rose.”


End file.
